According to Ann Marks, a physics consultant who advised on this meeting of sculptors and scientists, Giants of the Infinitesimal is about helping “visualise the invisible”.

Nano-particles are put under the microscope

That’s because the nano-particles at its combustible centre, which have
the power to radically transform healthcare, computing, energy and waste
reduction, span billionths of a metre in width.

“They are incredibly tiny,” she says. “To find out about them or image them you need special devices.”

Here, those implements are large-scale versions of the particles,
created by shapers Tom Grimsey and Theo Kaccoufa in collaboration with
experts from universities in Liverpool, Nottingham, Glasgow and
Sheffield.

Their efforts allow you to manipulate them in the same way they might be
in a lab. An experimental adventure which premiered at Manchester’s
Museum of Science and Industry, the project also features a sculpted
depiction of the honeycomb lattice of graphene – the super-strong
material which won a Nobel prize in Physics for a University of
Manchester team.

“The interactive exhibits simulate techniques used by the scientists,
but with particles about a hundred million times larger,” explains
Marks.

“The challenge is to move them about and experience this amazing world.”

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